Senate Enrolled Act No. 433 directs that an Indiana Poet Laureate is to be selected biennially by a committee of seven members representing seven institutions of higher education. The executive director of the Indiana Arts Commission (IAC) heads the selection committee. The Indiana Arts Commission is in the process of selecting the next Indiana Poet Laureate to serve from January 1, 2016 to December 31, 2017. 

The Indiana Poet Laureate represents the State of Indiana and the art of poetry through the development and implementation of programming to the education community and general public. The Poet Laureate makes formal presentations at various educational facilities and events, pursues individual initiatives to advance the knowledge and appreciation of poetry throughout the state, and offers advice to the Commission regarding ways to further the art of poetry in Indiana

According to Sarah Fronczek, Community Development Manager and Arts Education Coordinator at the Indiana Arts Commission, “We seek highly qualified professors of English from Indiana’s institutions of higher education to assist the Indiana Arts Commission with this biennial selection process.” The committee considers the following basic criteria in its selection: the nominee’s reputation as a poet in Indiana, possible national notoriety and affiliations, and evidence of interaction with the education community and public to promote the art of poetry. Dr. Julie Goodspeed-Chadwick has been nominated and appointed to serve on the committee that will select the next Indiana Poet Laureate.

Dr. Goodspeed-Chadwick, associate professor of English and director of the Office of Student Research at IUPUC, is a specialist in twentieth-century poetry, particularly in regard to American literature. She has more than 20 peer-reviewed publications in addition to a book, many of which address poetry and poetics. She has given invited talks about contemporary poetry and modernist literature at Marian University in Indianapolis, Indiana University–Bloomington, and Yale University. At IUPUC, she regularly teaches poetry in classes that are part of the literature track of the English degree program. Her current research focuses on modernist and contemporary poetry and poetics in connection with identity politics, trauma studies, and women’s studies concerns.